Family Survival Farm-Blog. Survival, homesteading and more: Why Are Indian Farmers Poor?

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Thursday, June 15, 2017

Why Are Indian Farmers Poor?

Agriculture plays a very
important role in India. The total acreage of India is
60% and the primary crops grown are wheat, rice and cotton. India is world’s
largest producer of pulses and spices. It contributes 16% to the total
GDP of India. Though the GDP share of the agricultural sector has declined over
the years owing to the growth of service sector and the industrial sector,
yield per hectare in spite of being significantly lower, has increased. In a country like India where the population is 1.3 billion,
food security is a big issue and that makes agriculture even more important. Moreover, agriculture contributes to the
10% of the total exports of India. Hence, it is safe to assume that there is a
correlation between growth in agriculture and the development of the nation.

Ministry of agriculture has signed MoUs with 52 countries for
better agricultural facilities in research and development, food processing and
plant protection among other areas. Apart from this, the government has
recently taken some major initiatives in the areas of irrigation, crop
insurance and land quality among others. With the target of doubling farm
incomes by 2022, the government has set up an inter-ministerial committee which
will look at the potential of growth of agricultural industry. Soil health
cards which look at increasing productivity of farmland by recommending right
crops for various lands have been provided to over 5 crore farmers till
date. Prime Minister Krishi Sinchai Yojana (PMKSY) has
been launched in order to provide water to every farm by 2017. Pradhan Mantri
Fasal Bima yojna has been launched in order to provide crop insurances to
farmers. Apart from already mentioned, there are a number of other schemes that
have been launched by the current government to increase the productivity and
to aid farmers.

Government schemes might sound really good on
paper but the ground reality is something else. Every year thousands of farmers
are committing suicides. The number of suicides is very alarming and reflects
in how much poor condition Indian farmers are. The chart besides shows the
number of farmer suicides from the year 2000.

About
10,000 farmers commit suicide every year in India with Maharashtra and Andhra
Pradesh accounting for 60% of them. The real plight of Indian farmers is that they are poor and
are in huge debt. Let's try to understand why are Indian farmers in huge debt?
Why are they poor?

According
to agricultural census, more than 85% of the farmers are small farmers i.e.
they own less than 2 hectares of land.

·These farmers do not
possess any capital and hence they are left with two options, first is to
resort to bank and second is to seek help from money lenders.

·While banks do offer
lower interest rate, they are misused by big farmers. Taking a loan at lower interest
and investing elsewhere for higher returns.

·Also, loans are rarely
given as per the size of the farms and the crop.

·Moreover, issues of
corruption and mismanagement also linger upon several banks. Thus it is safe to
say that small farmer are excluded from this benefit.